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Showhouse Color: Pastels

Pastels are often passed over in the world of design. These pale beauties can be soft in their commitment to color, and can lose the visual oomph needed to make a dynamic statement. In the three showhouse rooms that follow, however, designers used the barely-there hues to execute spaces with sophistication and chic style.

The living room designed by Jack Fhillips sings the blues in confident, enticing tones that echo the tranquil water nearby.

Pastels can be overly sweet, warns Jack. "You have to test them to discover the one that reads sophisticated and not silly. A great blue in Florida could be dull and deadly in New York."

With loads of architectural details and natural light, the room's pale blue shell sets off the furnishings, including a tufted sofa, matching club chairs, and a linen-wrapped cocktail table Jack hand-painted in subtle, textured stripes.

Windows with water views called for simple treatments. Banded with sea foam-colored trim, shirred linen panels in off-white elegantly coordinate with the design.

Near the stately paneled door, an English sofa table extends from under a shell-encrusted mirror, anchoring a mélange of interesting chairs. A gilded French cane-back chair and a Louis XVI open armchair with embroidered linen upholstery serve the makeshift desk. A white Gustavian chair accented in blue can be pulled up to join the grouping.

One would never suspect the room that designer Basha White created was once the dreariest in this showhouse. Her finished project exudes a quiet but memorable glamour as well as color confidence.

"The room had minimal light," says Basha of the space, originally the breakfast room of this 1905 Georgian mansion. "I made it brighter and lighter with the right colors and a bit of Hollywood glam."

She painted the walls of the room a dreamy pastel lavender that enhances the amethyst crystal used in the table settings. Raffia fabric on the Louis XVI dining chairs and a striking iron chandelier with large rock crystal drops add to the striking vignette.

The ceiling, often ignored in design, provides more dazzle to the elegant room. Silver-leaf squares, applied in a block pattern, were glazed to give
the surface an aged appearance.

Window panels of luscious silk taffeta in a silvery celadon enhance the complexity of the room's pastel-and-metallic palette. A stately horse-head sculpture rendered in 1920s Aptware reigns from atop a high pedestal in front of one of the windows.

What do you do with a challenging living space where natural light is blocked by a porch running the length of the front of the house? If you are designer David Mitchell, you banish gloom by bathing the room in shades of pale blue, ivory, yellow, wheat, and khaki for a casual yet polished look. Then you solve the dilemma of long, narrow dimensions by dividing the room into three areas.

The focal point is a fireplace centered on the back wall. David took advantage of the position by situating a table, skirted in yellow-and-white cotton, in front of it. The table serves as a divider between two seating arrangements, where symmetry guides furniture placement.

The opposite end of the room features a second seating area anchored by a French reproduction daybed. Sisal rugs, with edges cut into a Greek key motif and banded with yellow trim, define each space. Inexpensive art paper in a spectrum of colors was cut and similarly framed to provide striking, graphic wall art.

"A problem room presents a perfect setting in which to be creative," says David. "It's a time to mix the inexpensive with things that are dear, old with new, modern with classic."